The spontaneous imbibition of water into the matrix and gas-filled fractures of unsaturated porous media is an important phenomenon in many geotechnical applications. Previous studies have focused on the imbibition behavior of water in the matrix, but few works have considered spontaneous imbibition along fractures. In this work, a new fractal model, considering the water losses from the fracture to the matrix, was established to predict the sorptivity of rough-walled fracture. A fractal model, considering the fractal dimension of tortuosity, was modified to estimate the sorptivity of the matrix. Both of the models have a time exponent α and can be simplified to the classical Lucas-Washburn (L-W) equation with α = 0.50. To verify the proposed models, quantitative data on the imbibition of water in both the matrix and the fracture of unsaturated sandstone were acquired by neutron radiography. The results show that the motion of the wetting front in both the matrix and the fracture does not obey the L-W equation. Both theory and experimental observations indicate that fracture can significantly increase spontaneous imbibition in unsaturated sandstone by
Capillary imbibition in unsaturated rocks is important for the exploitation of tight reservoirs, such as oil and gas reservoirs. However, the physical properties of natural rocks tend to be relatively uneven, mainly in the heterogeneity of material composition and pore space. Reservoir heterogeneity is an important factor affecting the exploitation of oil fields and other reservoirs, which can be evaluated by the pore structure tortuosity fractal dimension DT of rock. The greater the value of DT, the stronger the heterogeneity of sandstone. Two types of sandstone with high and low permeability were selected to study the effect of heterogeneity on the imbibition behavior by using high-resolution X-ray imaging and neutron radiography. Quantitative results of the wetting front position for each specimen were extracted from the neutron images. The wetting front advanced linearly with the power index of time t1/(2DT). Different values of DT were selected to estimate and discuss the effect of the heterogeneity on sorptivity. A modified L-W equation was employed to predict the sorptivity. Comparing with the experimental results, the heterogeneity plays a significant role in determining the sorptivity. The modified model provides a reference for the prediction of the sorptivity of the same types of sandstones studied in this paper.
The role of coal mine underground reservoir(CMUR) in ‘guide storage and use’ greatly solves the problem of mine water waste. Replenishment and prediction of reservoir water sources provides an important support for the successful development of key technologies concerning CMUR. To study water replenishment for CMUR, the hydrogeological conditions of the Shendong mining area are investigated as an example. Based on the relationship between the development height of the ‘two belts’ of shallow coal seams and the relative occurrence location of aquifers, the aquifers are generalized and classified according to occurrence location. Taking Bulianta Coal Mine as the research background, a discrete element fluid-solid coupling numerical simulation model is constructed to analyze the development characteristics of mining-induced fractures after coal seam mining, and the water replenishment channel of the CMUR is determined. On this basis, analysis is made on the change law of water pressure in the aquifer, aquifuge and coal seam roof under mining action. Taking hydraulic head pressure and water velocity as the judgment basis, prediction and evaluation are made on the water replenishment capacity of CMUR. The research results can provide references for coal mine safety production and mine water protection and utilization.
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